Military Develops 'Spaceplane' to Fly Marines to Trouble Spots Fast

FOXNews.com - Military Develops 'Spaceplane' to Fly Marines to Trouble Spots Fast - Local News | News Articles | National News | US News: "The American military is planning a “spaceplane” designed to fly a crack squad of heavily armed marines to trouble spots anywhere in the world within four hours.

At a recent secret meeting at the Pentagon, engineers working on the craft, codenamed Hot Eagle, were told to draw up blueprints for a prototype which generals want to have in the air within 11 years.

Pentagon planners have been encouraged by technical breakthroughs from Burt Rutan, chief designer on Sir Richard Branson’s White Knight spaceship, which is due to begin test flights next year and to carry tourists on suborbital journeys from 2010.

Last week Rutan, 65, who built the first privately funded craft to reach space and won the $10 million X prize for his achievement in 2004, gave his blessing to Hot Eagle, which could be based on White Knight’s technology.

Rutan said it would be an expensive way to transport troops “but it could be done. It is feasible.”

Will Whitehorn, president of Virgin Galactic, which is funding White Knight, recently predicted that it could be used to airlift emergency supplies into disaster zones."

Grandson Of Huey Joins The Marines

I love these old birds! They are smaller than the new toys the army likes, but they can get into areas that those larger choppers just can't fit. Like troop transports.

Air Transportation: Grandson Of Huey Joins The Marines: "August 20, 2008: The U.S. Marine Corps has accepted the UH-1Y transport helicopter for mass production, and will put the first UH-1Ys in service by early 2009. The manufacturer, Bell Helicopters, has a contract to remanufactured AH-1W Super Cobra attack and UH-1N utility helicopters to the AH-1Z and UH-1Y standard. Overall, the remanufactured models will share about 80 percent common parts, including a glass cockpit. The UH-1Y can carry three tons, has a cruise speed of 159 kilometers an hour and the average sortie lasts about 50 minutes.

Although the UH/AH-1 airframe design is half a century old, this is another example of how, via rebuilding, a basically sound design can continue to serve for decades. Or, in this case, half a century. The army went on to replace its UH-1s with the UH-60, and the AH-1 (which is a modified UH-1 airframe) with the AH-64.These new designs were superior in many ways, but as dozens of nations have discovered, rebuilt AH-1s and UH-1s can still do the job. Moreover, the marine refurbs contain many of the improvements built into the UH-60s and AH-64s."

India's Cabinet looks at 1.7 billion arms deal with Israel

Everyone who is fighting against Islamic domination is now turning to the Israelis for help. The Israeli weapons are even better than the US ones and do not come with the political price tag.

I like Israeli weapons. Since they are making such good money right now, can I get a free sample?

AKI - Adnkronos international India: Cabinet looks at 1.7 billion arms deal with Israel: "An Indian cabinet committee has approved two arms deals worth 1.7 billion dollars with Israeli companies to upgrade their missile defence systems, according to an Israeli media report.

The security committee approved a 1.5 billion dollar deal with Israel Aerospace Industries to develop and upgrade the Barak surface-to-air missile, said the Israeli daily Haaretz citing anonymous sources on Wednesday.

Haaretz also said that another 270 million dollars were approved for the purchase of a Rafael SpyDer missile defence system."

iPods In Combat

This is a very cool idea! I have heard of it before, but it is wonderful to see that it is becoming more common in the combat zones. I wish I could afford to get a copy of these myself so that I could more easily talk to my Middle Eastern friends.

Intelligence: iPods In Combat: "The U.S. military went into Iraq with few troops able to speak Arabic. Now they can use their iPods to do the talking for them. A new software product, VCommunicator Mobile, and a speaker than plugs into where the ear buds go, enables troops to quickly access a library of phrases. There is also a set of protective covers for the iPod and speaker, with Velcro straps so that you can attach both to your arm.

If all this sounds very soldier-friendly, that's because the product was designed with the help of troops from the 10th Mountain division, who have been using 260 of these specially equipped iPods for the last year. This cost the army $800,000, and included language modules for Iraqi Arabic (it's a distinct dialect) and Kurdish (an Indo-European language spoken in the north). There are also modules for languages spoken in Afghanistan (Dari and Pushto). Over 700 troops are using the device in Iraq and Afghanistan.

The VCommunicator Mobile software and libraries takes up four gigabytes per language, so it can be used on the smaller, and more rugged, Nano iPods. The software displays graphics, showing either the phrase in Arabic, or a video of a soldier making the appropriate hand gesture (there are a lot of those in Arabic.) There are collections of phrases for specific situations, like checkpoint, raid or patrol. You can use any accessory made for the iPod, like larger displays or megaphones.

The army has been developing translation devices like this since 2001. All previous ones needed a laptop or PDA (a device being made obsolete by more powerful cell phones). The VCommunicator Mobile approach took advantage of the fact that most troops had iPods and knew how to operate them. That saved a lot of training time. It was also discovered that many Iraqis were familiar with iPods, or had their own. They were fascinated by this use of the iPod, and this helped break the tension. While the translation is one way, but asking for "yes/no" answers, or directions (to an arms cache, a wanted man, or someone in need of medical help), the VCommunicator Mobile worked quite well.

While troops quickly pick up a basic vocabulary of phrases, the VCommunicator Mobile accelerates the process, as troops can use it to help them learn more Arabic (or Dari or Phusto). VCommunicator Mobile also comes with an editor, that runs on a laptop, enabling troops to edit their libraries, adding new phrases or reorganizing them.

The army has found that the troops can handle a lot of technology, if the stuff is actually useful. In that case, soldiers will often buy stuff with their own money. Not so much with VCommunicator Mobile, as it costs $2,000 to have an iPod loaded with just one language. The army has also provided a solar recharger for the iPods of troops spending a lot of time out in the hills of Afghanistan. "

Death By Cell Phone

I love stories like this that show how the Muslim lack of faith in modern tools. Yes, phones and weapons are tools. If the Muslims would only get an education on things other than Islam they might start to be able to fight this War they start and win. Praise Allah for keeping his people ignorant!

Electronic Weapons: Death By Cell Phone: "Islamic terrorists operating in Indian Kashmir got sloppy with their cell phone use, and destroyed a valuable support network that included some local Moslem politicians. Counter-terrorism forces monitored cell phone traffic, and some conversations in Kashmir revealed a terrorist network that included some local Moslem politicians. The terrorists had developed security procedures for using their cell phones, but Indian intelligence eventually identified who was using the phones and for what. Improved Indian cell phone monitoring methods were suspected by the terrorists, but they became obvious when some local politicians were implicated in providing cell phones, and other assistance, to the terrorists."

The War In The Pacific

I bet you thought this was going to be about the Second World War!

The Drug Gangs are getting smarter and this is not a good thing. Of course, part of that is the Communist regimes who are slipping them State support. Anyone reading this full article should understand why the US is activating a Fleet in the Caribbean for the first time in decades. It might be a good thing to use more military resources in Columbia too, but that is not our territory.

The War In The Pacific: "The War In The Pacific
by James Dunnigan
July 20, 2008

The submarine war off the northwest (Pacific) coast of South America is getting, well, strange. For the last few years, the cocaine producing gangs of Colombia have been having considerable success exporting their product via submarines. About a third of the 600 tons of cocaine coming out of Colombia each year leaves via the Pacific coast. Most of this is being carried in submarines, that move the cocaine to North American. Off the Pacific coast, it's believed that only about five percent of these subs have been caught.

These are not submarines in the true sense of the word, but "semi-submersibles". They are 40-50 foot fiberglass boats, powered by a diesel engine, with a small "conning tower" above the water, providing the crew (of 4-5), and engine, with fresh air, and permitting the crew to navigate the boat. A boat of this type is the only practical kind of "submarine" for drug smuggling. A real submarine would be much more difficult to build, although you can buy commercial subs for a million dollars or so. These, however, can carry only a few hundred pounds of cargo, and not for long distances.

The semi-submersibles are built, often using specially made components brought in from foreign components, in areas along the Colombian coast, or other drug gang controlled territory). Russian naval architects and engineers have been discovered among those designing and building these boats. Based on interrogations of captured gang members, these subs cost about $600,000 to construct, and carry about ten tons of cocaine.

At one point it was thought that as many as half of them were captured or lost at sea. But this is apparently not the case. That's because most of these "subs" are built for a one way trip. This keeps down the cost of construction, and the cost of hiring a crew. That one voyage will usually be for about a thousand kilometers, with the boat moving at a speed of 15-25 kilometers an hour. So the average trip will take a day and a half.

Some subs have been caught while being towed by a larger ship. Apparently this enables the semi-submersibles to cover longer distances, and then be cut loose for the final approach to the shore of California or some area in Europe or on the east coast of North America. While the subs are most frequently used from the Pacific coast of Colombia, they are showing up elsewhere as well.

These subs are not stealthy enough to avoid detection all the time. However, it appears that these semi-submersibles do work, because the drug gangs keep using them more and more. Delivery by sea is now the favored method for cocaine smugglers, because the United States has deployed military grade aircraft detection systems, and caught too many of the airborne drug shipments. The smugglers did their math, and realized that improvised submarines were a more cost-effective way to go.

The Colombians are trying to get the United States more involved in shutting down this submarine operation, pointing out that terrorists could use similar vessels to attack U.S. warships, or targets along the coast. Replacing the ten tons of cocaine with explosives is pretty easy to do.

Meanwhile, the Colombian Army is clearing the Pacific coast of areas that are capable of hiding these building operations (which are usually along a river that empties into the Pacific). This process will take several more years, so for now it's up to the navy and air force to catch these subs after they enter the ocean. "

What Terrorizes Terrorists The Most

Intelligence: What Terrorizes Terrorists The Most: "What Terrorizes Terrorists The Most

July 8, 2008: The U.S. has revealed that many terrorists it arrests, or kills, in Iraq, Afghanistan and elsewhere around the world, already have arrest records in the United States and other nations. They know this because early on in the war on terror, the Department of Defense adopted many practices that major police departments have long taken for granted. One of the more useful techniques is biometrics. That is, every time the troops encounter a 'person of interest', they don't just take their name and address, they also use portable electronic tools to take fingerprints, a retinal scan and photos. All this is stored in a database, which now contains hundreds of thousands of records for Iraqis, Afghans, and other 'persons of interest'. The fingerprints are particularly useful, because when they are stored electronically, you can search and find out immediately if the print you have just lifted from somewhere else, like the fragment of a car bomb, is in there or not. The digital photos, from several angles, are also useful, because these pictures are run through software that creates a numeric ID that can be used by security cameras to look for some one specific, or for finding someone from a witness description. Other nations are digitizing their mug shots, and this enables these people to be quickly checked against those in the American database.

For decades, the U.S. military has regularly collected huge amounts of information from accidents, or even combat encounters. So now, it's no surprise that forensics teams examine each bombing (car or roadside), to see if they can get fingerprints. Often bomb makers are found this way, because raids frequently encounter suspicious characters, but no evidence to justify arresting them. It only takes about two minutes per subject to take the biometric data, so any suspicious characters are added to the database. Now, after several years of this, raiding parties know to grab any guy who seems to panic at the sight of the biometrics equipment coming out. The terrorists know that biometrics is bad news for them, and they fear it."

Super-sensitive spray-on explosive detector makes great television

This is cool! Can I get a batch to test? How much does it cost? I want some!

RSC Press Release: Super-sensitive spray-on explosive detector makes great television: "US scientists have designed a new spray-on explosive detector sensitive enough to detect just a billionth of a gram of explosive. After treatment the explosive glows blue under UV light, making it perfect for use in the field - or on CSI: Miami.

William Trogler and his team at the University of California, San Diego, made a silafluorene-fluorene copolymer to identify nitrogen-containing explosives. It is the first of its kind to act as a switchable sensor with picogram (10-15g) detection limits, and is reported in the Royal Society of Chemistry's Journal of Materials Chemistry.

Trogler's polymer can detect explosives at much lower levels than existing systems because it detects particles instead of explosive vapours. In the team's new method one simply sprays the polymer solution over the test area, let it dry, and shine UV light on it. Spots of explosive quench the fluorescent polymer and turn blue - this makes it quick and visually exciting enough to be featured on the hit US TV programme CSI: Miami.

The polymer is able to show the difference between nitrate esters, such as trinitroglycerin, and nitroaromatic explosives, such as TNT."

Flashlight Weapon Makes Targets Throw Up

I want one! Who can I use it on?

FOXNews.com - Flashlight Weapon Makes Targets Throw Up - Science News | Current Articles: "Intelligent Optical Systems, Inc., of Torrance, Calif., has been granted a contract by the Department of Homeland Security to develop what it calls the 'LED Incapacitator,' according to a DHS online newsletter.

The handheld device using light-emitting diodes to emit super-bright pulses of light at rapidly changing wavelengths, causing disorientation, nausea and even vomiting in whomever it's pointed at."

Defense Tech: Dirty Bomb? Grab a Llama

Interesting tidbit of information. I am glad that the llamas being imported to North America are good for more than wool and meat! I think it will be fun to see what else this leads to. I forsee many, many llama farms around strategic points in the world. Better than sheep!

Defense Tech: Dirty Bomb? Grab a Llama: "Dirty Bomb? Grab a Llama

The current issue of The American Legion magazine has an interesting tidbit about how 'an unusual protein found in the blood of llamas has enabled scientists to deveop a quick, simple method for making anibodies that could be used in a new generation of bio sensors that could help detect deliberate environmental contamination, such a bioterrorism.'

According to the article, researchers at the Naval Research Laboratory say that llamas are among certain animals that produce 'heavy chain antibodies' from which 'single-domain antibodies' can be isolated by genetic engineering. Camels and sharks also produce the same antibody but you seldom see either of those in a petting zoo, do you?

NRL researchers claim to have used single-domain antibodies to combat a smallpox virus surrogate, cholera toxin, along with other biothreats."